Accurately forecasting the peaks and troughs of supply and demand in business is difficult at the best of times. In the current volatile economic climate, many are finding it almost impossible. For instance, in the latest survey by the institute of directors, 38.5 per cent of businesses believe that the UK is at ‘high or very high’ risk of slipping back into recession, while the latest figures from the manufacturing sector show stronger than predicted growth. (more…)
I’ve had two reminders this week about the nature of distractions. The first was The Thick of It and Mock the Week comic Chris Addison revealing how he installed a software programme to prevent him from using Twitter while he was writing material for his most recent stand-up routine. (more…)
No new year’s resolutions for me again this year. How can you improve the unimprovable? I’m joking of course, but there is a more serious point here. As we all know, those seemingly earnest commitments we make in the first week of January do tend to unravel by… well, by the third week of January. (more…)
Procurement leaders are increasingly asked to extract more value in light of unprecedented economic conditions. It is understood that pure sourcing alone does not optimise value and many organisations have pushed the boundaries of what is considered traditional purchasing. (more…)
Procurement has to fight very hard to get a seat at the table in many organisations so it is demotivating to see our own behaviour drive us further away from our business. So what should we avoid doing to make sure we don’t ruin our chances? (more…)
I don’t know about you, but whenever a new and exciting opportunity comes my way, I am awash with anxiety. I feel excited and nervous – then the fear factor strikes.
In 2011, I made the leap from the comfort of an industry I had spent my whole procurement career in to new and unchartered (by me) grounds. (more…)
What a difference a year makes. The UK economy lurched into 2011 sluggish but hopeful, with predictions of GDP growth of 2.2 per cent, surging to a healthy 3 per cent in 2012. Inflation was thought to be a temporary worry at an RPI rate of 4.7 per cent. Unemployment was stable just below 2.5 million.
The October 2010 Spending Review had set the scene for an austerity programme to reduce the budget deficit. There was more fear of cutbacks than actual pain – although that was to come soon enough. (more…)
At the start of the year, many businesses were still pursuing a policy of completely integrated supply chains. Few had given thought to what we now know as ‘high impact, low probability’ events. Then the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. Our assumptions about the resilience of supply chains were shattered as its toll on the production of many different goods became apparent. We must now think very differently about single supply arrangements if that supplier could face major disruption. (more…)
However, the time I spent watching the chancellor address parliament was not wasted. Watching the fiery debate, I began to see just how difficult it must be for procurement to get across the details and importance of initiatives to stakeholders. (more…)
Accurately forecasting the peaks and troughs of supply and demand in business is difficult at the best of times. In the current volatile economic climate, many are finding it almost impossible. For instance, in the latest survey by the institute of directors, 38.5 per cent of businesses believe that the UK is at ‘high or very high’ risk of slipping back into recession, while the latest figures from the manufacturing sector show stronger than predicted growth. (more…)![[Bloglines]](http://blog.supplymanagement.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/bloglines.png)
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